The Sustainable Fisheries Division, Southeast Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), is entrusted with the conservation, management, and protection of marine fishery resources inhabiting federal waters off the southeastern United States from North Carolina through Texas and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Division is the Region’s focal point for implementing NMFS' primary legislative authority for fisheries management and research, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA).
The Magnuson-Stevens Act is NMFS' primary legislative authority for fisheries management and research. It was extensively amended in 2006. Please click here for information about the new requirements, implementation progress, and opportunities for public input.
The Division works directly with the Region’s three fishery management councils established by Congress to perform the mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These mandates are accomplished through fishery management plans for marine finfish and
invertebrates
that support important commercial and recreational fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and Caribbean and consider conservation and management issues, sociological and economic issues, and regulatory issues. Functions and activities required to fulfill this and other responsibilities as specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Act include: providing guidance on fisheries management; providing technical assistance and advise in preparing FMPs in accordance with national standard guidelines and other applicable laws; coordinating public review and compilation of comments; initiating Secretarial review of FMPs and amendments; drafting regulations and Federal Register notices, as well as reviewing and responding to comments received during rulemaking; FMP implementation; and monitoring.
